THE  FOUNDING  OF  MISSION 

ROSARIO:    A  CHAPTER 

IN  THE  HISTORY  OF 

THE  GULF  COAST. 


BY 


HERBERT  E.  BOLTON,  Ph.  D. 

Adjunct  Professor  of  HisTory,  the  University  of  Texas. 


Reprinted  from  the  Quarterly  of  the  Texas  State  Historical  Association, 
Vol.  X,-No.  2  (October,  1906). 


AUSTIN,  TEXAS. 


m77 


Reprinted  from  the  Quarterly  of  the  Texas  State  Historical  Association, 
Vol.  X,  No.  2   (October,  1906). 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  MISSION  EOSARIO :  A  CHAPTER  IN 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  GULF  COAST.^ 

HERBERT  E.  BOLTON. 

This  sketch  of  the  founding  of  Mission  Nuestra  Seiiora  del 
Rosario  for  the  Karankawan  Indian  tribes  of  the  Texas  coast  coun- 
try was  written  as  a  by-product,  so-to-speak,  of  a  more  extended 
task.  It  aims  merely  to  set  forth  the  general  conditions  in  northern 
New  Spain  that  led  to  a  renewed  attempt,  after  one  failure,  to  sub- 
due these  tribes,  and  to  a  plan  to  colonize  their  territory  and  that 
along  the  coast  to  the  southwest ;  to  tell  the  story  of  the  struggles, 
delays,  and  difficulties  that  attended  the  foundation  of  the  mis- 
sion that  was  established  as  one  of  the  agencies  in  their  reduction; 
and  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  kind  and  degree  of  success  that  at- 
tended the  first  few  years  of  its  existence.  If  the  historical  im- 
)  portance  of  the  founding  of  this  mission  were  measured  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  establishment  or  its  success  as  a  spiritual  under- 

^Upon  the  main  subject  of  this  paper  there  is  nothing  known  to  the 
writer  in  print,  consequently  he  has  had  no  guide  for  even  the  barest  out- 
lines of  the  narrative.  The  materials  used  in  its  preparation  are  almost 
entirely  manuscript  records  in  the  Archivo  General  de  M6xico  and  in  the 
Bexar  Archives.  Unless  otherwise  indicated,  the  correspondence  cited  is 
contained  in  a  collection  of  manuscripts  in  the  Archivo  General  (Secci6n 
de  Historia,  volume  287)  entitled  Autos  fhos.  apedimento.  .  .  .  [de] 
Frai  Benitto  de  Santa  An  [a]  .  .  .  que  se  le  manden  restitu  [ir  a  la 
Mision  de]  8n.  Antonio  que  es  a  cargo  de  la  8ta.  Cruz  de  Querettaro  los 
[con]  hersos  Indios  de  In  Nacion  [Cujan]  que  se  kalian  agregados  d  [la 
mision]   de  Santa  Dorothea.     1751-1758.     Original.     Folios  108. 


r 


114  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

taking,  it  would,  indeed,  be  small.  But  such  is  not  the  case,  for  the 
project  of  a  Karankawan  mission  was  an  index  of  plans  affecting  an 
entire  geographical  region,  and  the  story  of  its  foundation  reveals 
the  motives  underlying  these  plans  and  the  conditions  attending 
their  execution.  It  is  but  fair  to  state  that  the  circumstances  of 
the  preparation  of  the  sketch  have  made  necessarily  brief  the  treat- 
ment of  these  broader  considerations,  and  have  determined  its  em- 
phasis upon  the  Spanish  relations  with  the  coast  tribes  and  the 
inner  history  of  the  mission. 

1.     The  Karankawan  Trihes  About  Matagorda  Bay. 

When  at  the  close  of  the  seventeeth  century  the  French  and  the 
Spaniards  first  attempted  to  occupy  the  Gulf  coast  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Matagorda  Ba}^,  that  region  was  the  home  of  a  group  of 
native  tribes  now  called  Karankawan  from  their  best  known  divi- 
sion. The  principal  tribes  of  this  group,  using  the  most  common 
Spanish  forms  of  the  names,  were  the  Cu janes,  Carancaguases, 
Guapites  (or  Coapites),  Cocos,  and  Copanes.  They  were  closely 
interrelated,  and  all  apparently  spoke  dialects  of  the  same  language, 
which  was  different  from  that  of  their  neighbors  farther  inland.^ 
Though  the  Carancaguas  tribe  has  finally  given  its  name  to  the 
group,  it  was  not  always  the  one  best  known  to  the  Europeans  or 
regarded  by  them  as  the  leading  one,  for  in  the  middle  of  the  18th 
century  four  of  the  tribes,  at  least,  including  the  Carancaguas, 
were  frequently  considered  collectively  under  the  name  Cujanes.^ 

As  these  Indians  did  not  occupy  fixed  localities,  and  as  they  , 
mingled  freely  with  each  other,  it  is  difficult  to  assign  definite   V 
territorial  limits  to  the  different  tribes;  and  yet  in  a  general  way 

^The  relation  above  asserted  between  these  four  tribes  has  not  hitherto 
been  established  by  ethnologists,  nor  do  the  scope  and  purpose  of  this 
article  justify  inserting  here  the  evidence  to  prove  it.  Such  evidence  is 
not  lacking,  however,  and  will  be  published,  it  is  hoped,  in  another  place. 
The  only  essay  in  print  on  the  Karankawan  Indians  is  that  by  Dr. 
Gatschet,  The  Karankawa  Indians,  in  Archwlogical  and  Ethnological 
Papers  of  the  Peahody  Museum,  Harvard  University,  Vol.  I,  No.  2,  1891.) 
Recent  work  in  the  Mexican  and  the  Texas  archives  has  made  accessible  a 
great  deal  of  material  unused  by  him. 

^Captain  Manuel  Eamlrez  de  la  Piszina,  of  Bahia  del  Esplritu  Santo, 
calls  them  "the  four  nations,  who,  under  the  name  of  Coxanes,  have  been 
reduced.  They  are  the  Co  janes,  Guapittes,  Carancaguases,  and  Copanes" 
(Letter  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  26,  1751).  This  is  only  one  of  several  in- 
stances of  this  usage  of  the  word  Cujanes  that  might  be  cited. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario.  115 

the  characteristic  habitat  of  each  can  be  designated  with  some  cer- 
tainty. The  Carancaguases  dwelt  most  commonly  on  the  narrow 
fringe  of  islands  extending  along  the  coast  to  the  east  and  the  west 
of  Matagorda  Bay;  the  Cocos  on  the  mainland  east  of  Matagorda 
Bay  about  the  lower  Colorado  River;  the  Cnjanes  and  Gna- 
pites  on  either  side  of  the  bay,  particularly  to  the  west  of  it;  and 
the  Copanes  west  of  the  mouth  of  the  San  Antonio  River  about 
Copano  Bay,  to  which  the  tribe  has  given  its  name. 

Numerically  the  group  was  not  large.  A  French  writer  of  the 
seventeeth  century  estimates  the  "Quelancouchis",  probably  mean- 
ing the  whole  Karankawan  group,  at  four  hundred  fighting  men, 
and  the  Spaniards,  upon  the  basis  of  a  closer  acquaintance,  in  1751 
put  the  number,  excluding  the  Cocos,  at  five  hundred  fighting  men.^ 

These  tribes  represented  perhaps  the  lowest  grade  of  native  so- 
ciety in  all  Texas.  Their  tribal  organization  was  loose,  and  their 
habits  were  extremely  crude.  With  respect  to  clothing,  they  ordi- 
narily went  about  in  a  state  of  nature.  Being  almost  or  entirely 
without  agriculture,  they  lived  largely  on  fish,  eggs  of  sea-fowls, 
and  sylvan  roots  and  fruits,  although  they  hunted  buffalo  and  other 
game  to  some  extent  in  the  interior.  They  led  a  roving  life,  and 
therefore  built  only  temporary  habitations,  consisting  usually  of 
poles  covered  or  partly  covered  with  reeds  or  skins.  The  Caran- 
caguases, in  particular,  as  has  been  said,  dwelt  on  the  islands;  but 
during  the  hunting  season  and  the  cold  winter  months  they  mi- 
grated to  the  mainland.  For  these  migrations  they  used  canoes, 
which  they  managed  with  skill.  Physically,  the  men  were  large  and 
powerful,  and  they  were  correspondingly  warlike.  They  were  fre- 
quently at  war  with  the  interior  tribes,  and  from  their  first  contact 
with  the  whites  they  were  regarded  as  particularly  dangerous.  Al- 
though their  only  weapons  were  the  bow  and  the  spear,^  their  island 
asylum  and  their  skill  with  canoes  made  them  unassailable  in  re- 
treat, while  horses,  early  secured  from  the  Spaniards,  increased 
their  offensive  strength.  From  very  early  times  they  were  regarded 
as  cannibals,  and  their  religious  superstitions  were  commensurate 

^A  mgmoire  of  1699,  in  Margry,  Decouvertes  et  Etahlissements,  IV,  316; 
Captain  Piszina,  of  Bahia,  letter  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  26,  1751. 

^The  "dardo,"  whicli  they  also  used  for  catching  fish  (Mezi^res  to  Croix, 
Oct  7,  1779,  in  Memorias^ de  Nueva  Espana,  XXVIII,  258). 


116  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

with  their  barbarity.    Such  Indians  as  these  could  hardly  be  called 
inviting  material  for  the  missionary. 

2.    Failure  of  Early  Spanish  Efforts  Among  the  Karankawan 

T riles. 

Although  the  Karankawan  tribes  were  among  the  very  earliest  of 
the  Texas  natives  to  come  to  the  notice  of  the  Spaniards,  and  were 
visited  by  them  again  during  the  first  attempts  at  actual  occupa- 
tion of  the  country,  efforts  to  control  them  were  for  some 
time  delayed.  The  Caoques,  or  Capoques,  met  by  Cabeza  de  Vaca 
on  the  Texas  coast  (1528-1534)  are  thought  to  have  been  identical 
with  the  Cocos  of  later  times.^  After  this  adventurer,  their  next 
white  visitors  were  the  French.  La  Salle's  unfortunate  colony 
(1685-9)  on  the  Lavaca  River  had  some  of  these  tribes  for  ireigh- 
bors,  and  was  destroyed  by  them.  It  was  among^the  Caocosi,  the 
Cocos,  very  probably,  that  De  Leon  in  1690  rescued  some  captive 
survivors  of  this  French  colony.^  Again,  in  1721,  the  hostility  of 
apparently  the  same  tribes  caused  La  Harpe  to  abandon  his  project 
of  occupying  the  Bay  of  St.  Bernard  for  France,  and  thus  put  an 
end  to  French  attempts  to  control  this  coast.^ 

Up  to  this  time  the  Spaniards  had  seen  but  little  of  the  Karan- 
kawan Indians  since  the  first  entradas  from  Mexico  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  before,  and  had  made  no  attempt  to  subdue 
them.  But  in  1722  the  Marques  de  Aguayo  established  on  the  very 
site  of  La  Salle's  fort  the  p^esidio  of  Nuestra  Senora  de  Loreto, 
more  commonly  called  Bahia,  and  founded  near  by  for  the  Cujanes, 
Guapites,  and  Carancaguases  the  mission  of  Espiritu  Santo  de 
Zuniga.  The  presidio  was  left  in  charge  of  Captain  Domingo 
Eamon,  perhaps  the  same  Ramon  who  had  founded  the  second 
group  of  East  Texas  missions  in  1716.     Father  Pena,^  a  member 

^Bandelier,  The  Journey  of  Alvar  'Nunez  Gdbeza  de  Vaca  (Barnes  and 
Co.  1905),  72;  Gatschet,  The  Karankawa  Indians,  34;  Hand-hook  of  the 
Indians    (Bureau  of  American  Ethnology),  I,  315.  - 

^Velasco,  Dietamen  Fiscal,  Nov.  30,  1716,  in  Memoriae  de  Nueva  Espana, 
XXVII,  182.  This  statement  is  made  by  Velasco  on  the  basis  of  De  Le6n's 
own  report.  See  Carta  de  Damian  Manzanet  (The  Quarterly,  II,  301), 
and  De  Leon,  Derrotero,  1690. 

^Margry,  Decouvertes  et  Etahlissements,  VI,  354. 

*Pena'8  diary  of  the  Aguayo  expedition  calls  him  Jos§  Ram6n,  but  au- 
thentic documents  written  at  Loreto  at  the  time  of  Ram6n's  death  call 
him  Domingo  Ilam6n  {Autos  fechos  en  la  Bahia  de  el  espiritu  8a/nto 
solve.     .     .     .     muertes,  1723-1724.     Original  MS.  Archivo  General. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Eosario.  117 

of  Aguayo's  expedition,  recorded  at  the  time  in  his  diary  that  "it 
was  seen  that  they  [these  three  tribes]  were  very  docile  and  would 
enter  readily  upon  the  work  of  cultivating  the  earth  and  their  own 
souls,  the  more  because  they  live  in  greater  misery  than  the  other 
tribes,  since  they  subsist  altogether  upon  fish  and  go  entirely  without 
clothing/'^  By  this  utterance  Pena  proved  himself  either  ignorant 
or  defiant  of  history,  a  bad  sociologist,  and  a  worse  prophet. 

In  a  short  time  forty  or  more  families  of  Cujanes,  Caranca- 
guases,  and  Guapites  established  their  rancheria  near  the  presidio, 
and  others  may  have  entered  the  mission;  but  scarcely  had  they 
done  so  before  trouble  began.  In  the  fall  of  1723  a  personal  quarrel 
arose  between  them  and  the  soldiers.  An  attempt  to  punish  an  of- 
fending Indian  resulted  in  a  fight,  the  death  of  Captain  Eamon, 
and  tho  flight  of  the  natives.^  In  a  few  weeks  the  Indians  returned 
to  make  reprisals  upon  the  lives  and  the  goods  of  the  soldiery — a 
practice  which  they  kept  up  more  or  less  continuously  for  the  next 
twenty-five  yearg.^  Whether  or  not  the  garrison  was  io  blame  for 
the  origin  of  the  ill  feeling,  as  it  was  claimed  they  were,  can  not 
be  stated,  but  at  any  rate  they  showed  little  skill  in  dealing  with 
this  warlike  people.* 

Discouraged  by  the  hostility  between  the  Indians  and  the  sol- 
diery, the  missionary  at  Espiritu  Santo  removed  his  mission  some 
ten  leagues  northwestward  to  the  Guadalupe  River,  and  labored 
among  the  Jaranames  and  the  Tamiques,*^  non-coast  tribes,  of  a 
different  language,  hostile  to,  and  having  a  somewhat  higher  civil- 
ization than  the  Karankawans.^    Shortly  afterward  the  presidio  was 

^Diary,  in  Memorias  de  Nueva  Espana,  XXVIIII,  57-58. 

^Autos  solve  muertes,  etc.,  1723-1724. 

'Ibid.  In  1728  Rivera  reported  that  the  Cujanes,  Cocos,  Guapites,  and 
Carancaguases  were  hostile  to  Bahla  {Proyecto,  Tercero  Estado,  Par.  42). 
In  1730  Governor  Bustillo  y  Zevallos  wrote  to  the  viceroy  that  a  treaty 
had  been  made  with  Cujanes,  Guapites,  and  Carancaguases,  and  that  he 
hoped  that  the  Copanes  and  Cocos  would  soon  join  them  (Letter  of  Nov. 
29,  1730).  Testimony  given  at  Bahla  Nov.  20,  1749,  states  that  Captain 
Orobio  y  Basterra  had  succeeded  for  some  time  in  keeping  the  Cocos 
Cujanes,  and  Orcoquizas  quiet    (BSxar  Archives,  Bahla,   1743-1778). 

/*Bancroft  (North  Mexican  States  and  Texas,  edition  of  1886,  I,  631),  on 
the  authority  of  Morfi,  lays  the  blame  upon  the  soldiers.  So  did  Governor 
Almazan,  who  investigated  the  trouble  in  1723  [Autos  solre  muertes, 
1723-1724). 

'Bancroft,  North  Mexican  States  and  Texas,  edition  of  1886,  I,  631. 

"Father  Juan  de  Dios  Maria  Camberos,  missionary  at  Bahla,  wrote  to 
the  viceroy  May  30,  1754,  that  "these  Indians  already  mentioned  [the 
Cujanes,  Guapites,  and  Carancaguases]   do  not  wish  to  leave  the  neigh- 


118  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

removed  to  the  same  site  by  Captain  Ramon's  successor.*  The 
new  location  is  apparently  marked  by  modern  Mission  Valley, 
west  of  the  Guadalupe  and  near  the  northwestern  line  of  Victoria 
county.^ 

Though  the  presidio  and  the  mission  had  retreated  from  their 
midst,  the  Karankawan  tribes  remained  hostile,  and  after  Rivera's 
inspection,  in  1727,  there  was  little  prospect  of  subduing  them. 
Rivera's  reports  between  1728  and  1738  show  that  he  regarded  the 
Cu janes,  Cocos,  Guapites,  Carancaguases,  and  Copanes  all  incapable 
of  being  reduced  to  mission  life,^  and  that  it  was  for  this  reason, 
mainly,  that  he  considered  projects  for  removing  the  presidio 
and  the  mission  of  Bahia  now  to  the  San  Marcos,  now  to  the  San 
Antonio,  and  now  to  the  Medina.  A  missionary  at  San  Antonio 
wrote  in  1751  that  "the  Cu  janes  were  for  some  thirty  years  con- 
sidered irreducible,  and  (according  to  various  reports  to  be  found 
in  the  Secretaria  de  Govierno),  because  irreducible,  they  were  the 
principal  obstacle  to  the  presidio  of  la  Bahia."  A  little  earlier  he 
had  written,  "In  truth,  since  the  year  1733,  when  I  came  to  this 
province,  I  have  never  heard  that  one  of  these  Indians  has  attached 
himself  to  that  mission  (Espiritu  Santo)."* 

borhood  of  la  Bahia  del  Espiritu  Santo,  where  their  lands  are,  nor  is  it 
proper  that  they  should  be  put  with  the  Jaranames  and  Tamiques,  who 
are  in  the  mission  called  Espiritu  Santo  at  said  Bahia,  since  they  are  of 
different  languages,  incompatible  dispositions,  and  do  not  like  to  be  in 
their  company."  Soils,  in  his  Diario  (1768),  reports  that  the  Jaranames 
and  their  associates  are  "en  mas  politica"  than  the  Karankawans  (Me- 
morias  de  Nueva  Espana,  XXVII,  265). 

^Bancroft,  North  Mexican  States  and  Texas,  I,  631,  on  the  authority  of 
Morfi,  Mem.  Hist.  Tex.,  195.  The  presidio  was  removed  after  Apr.  8, 
1724,  and  apparently  before  the  close  of  Governor  Almaz^n's  term  in  1726, 
but  I  have  been  unable  to  determine  the  exact  date, 

^This  new  site  was  later  reported  as  fourteen  leagues  northwest  from 
Bahia  del  Espiritu  Santo  (Report  of  Captain  Orobio  y  Bast^rra,  of  Bahia, 
1747)  and  about  ten  leagues  northwest  of  the  later  site  of  Bahia,  or  mod- 
ern Goliad  (Capt.  Manuel  Ramirez  de  la  Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Feb.  18, 
1750).  Mr.  H.  J.  Passmore,  of  Goliad,  informs  me  that  at  the  lower  end 
of  Mission  Valley,  and  close  to  the  Guadalupe  River,  "near  some  slight 
falls,  or  what  some  think  was  an  old  dam  in  the  River,  and  near  what 
was  known  as  the  'De  Leon  Crossing,"*  there  were,  within  the  memory 
of  the  old  settlers,  some  fairly  well  preserved  ruins  of  a  mission,  whose 
name  none  in  his  locality  can  tell  him.  The  distances  of  this  point  from 
the  original  site  of  Bahia  and  from  Goliad  correspond  very  well  with 
those  given  above. 

"Santa  Ana,  president  of  the  Quergtaran  Missions  at  San  Antonio,  to 
the  viceroy,  about  May  22,  1752. 

♦Letters  to  the  viceroy,  June  17  and  Dec.  20,  1751. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario.  119 

Thus,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  families  of  Cujanes  and  a  few 
of  Cocos  who  had  found  their  way  into  the  San  Antonio  missions, 
by  1750  no  progress  had  been  made  toward  converting  or  even  sub- 
duing these  Karankawan  tribes.  But  now  conditions  in  the  prov- 
inces and  the  plans  of  the  government  led  to  a  renewed  and  more 
successful  attempt. 

3.     New  Plans  for  the  Coast  Country. 

For  some  time  the  missionary  field  in  Texas  had  tended  rather 
to  contract  than  to  expand ;  but  toward  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  a  new  wave  of  missionary  activity  made  itself  felt  not  only 
in  this  province,  but  in  the  whole  coast  country  north  of  Panuco. 
It  was  in  a  way  a  response  to  increased  Indian  troubles  on  the 
north  Mexican  frontier  and  to  increasingly  bold  intrusions  of  the 
French  among  the  northeastern  tribes;  and,  although  we  must  not 
underrate  the  zeal  that  still  burned  in  the  breast  of  the  Franciscan 
friar,  it  is  but  truth  to  say  that  the  dominant  force  behind  this  new 
missionary  movement  was  mainly  political — the  desire  to  subdue 
unoccupied  territory,  protect  the  settlements,  and  to  keep  a  con- 
trolling hand  upon  the  frontier  tribes  to  prevent  them  and  their 
country  from  falling  to  a  rival  power.  In  Texas  this  activity  showed 
itself  in  the  plans  for  the  coast  country  about  to  be  described,  and 
in  the  foundation  of  a  number  of  new  missions  elsewhere  for  tribes 
hitherto  neglected  but  now  demanding  attention.  Among  these 
missions  were  the  three  founded  (about  1747)  on  San  Xavier  E-iver^ 
northeast  of  Austin,  for  tribes  mainly  of  the  Tonkawan  group; 
Nuestra  Senora  de  la  Luz,  (about  1756),  on  the  lower  Trinity 
Eiver,  for  the  Yidais  and  Orcoquizas;  the  mission  at  San  Saba 
(1757)  for  the  Lipan  Apaches;  San  Lorenzo  and  Candelaria^ 
(1762),  south  of  San  Saba,  likewise  for  the  Apaches;  and  possibly 
others.  During  this  period,  also,  plans  were  considered,  though 
unrealized,  for  missionizing  the  Towakana  tribes  of  the  Brazos, 
and  the  Yscanes  farther  to  the  northeast.^    It  has  been  customary 

^San  Xavier,  Candelaria,  San  Ildefonso. 

^Founded  in  January  and  February,  1762.  Eaypediente,  sohre  estableei- 
mento  de  Misiones  en  la  immediadon  del  Presidio  de  8n.  Savas  (Archive 
General),   94,   103,   112. 

^Testimonio  de  los  Diligendas  practicadas  .  .  .  sohre  la  reduccion 
de  los  Yndios  Tehuacanas  e  Yscanis  &  Mision,  1761-1763  (B6xar  Archives). 


120  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

to  suppose  that  these  missions  were  all  failures,  compared  even 
with  the  standard  of  success  attained  by  the  earlier  ones ;  but  until 
the  facts  of  their  history  are  better  known  judgment  may  well  be 
suspended.  Certain  it  is  that,  the  more  we  know  about  the  regime 
of  the  Spaniards  in  these  northern  provinces,  the  more  we  discover 
that  they  had  and  did  here,  and  the  more  charitable  we  become  in 
judging  their  ultimate  failure. 

The  founding  of  mission  Rosario,  as  well  as  those  enumerated 
above,  was  also  part  of  this  revived  missionary  movement,  but 
more  specifically,  part  of  a  plan  to  colonize  and  missionize  the 
whole  gulf  coast  country  from  Panuco  to  the  San  Antonio  River. 
This  region  had  been  the  longest  neglected  stretch  of  coast  country 
round  the  entire  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  had  become  a  retreat  for 
Indians  who  troubled  the  interior  provinces  of  Nuevo  Leon  and 
Coahuila,  and  the  southern  portion  of  it  was  suspected  of  having 
valuable  mines.  The  government  at  Mexico  decided,  therefore,  to 
subdue  it  by  conquest,  colonization,  and  missions.  The  person  ap- 
pointed to  undertake  this  work  was  Jose  de  Escandon,  one  of  the 
ablest  men  in  Mexican  history,  who,  some  time  before,  had  been 
made  Count  of  Sierra  Gorda  for  his  notable  pacification  of  that 
region.  His  appointment  to  the  new  commission  dated  from  Sep- 
tember 3,  1746.  The  territory  assigned  for  him  to  subdue  and 
colonize  was  called  Colonia  del  Nuevo  Santander,  and  extended 
from  Panuco  to  the  San  Antonio  Eiver.^ 

Had  the  colonization  of  all  New  Spain  been  left  to  the  care  of 
men  with  Escandon^s  views  and  ability,  the  results  of  Spain's  ef- 
forts would  doubtless  have  been  much  greater  than  they  actually 
proved  to  be.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  superiority  of  civil 
pueblos  over  military  garrisons  or  even  missions  as  a  means  of  sub- 
duing natives  and  securing  new  territory;  and  an  essential  feature 
of  his  plan  for  Nuevo  Santander  was  to  have  the  settlements  of 
Mexican  colonists  sufficiently  numerous  and  prosperous  to  make 
possible  within  a  few  years  the  withdrawal  of  the  garrisons.^ 

In  1746  and  1747  Escandon  personally  inspected  the  country  to 

^Bancroft,  Mexico,  III,  332-  342;  Reconocimiento  del  8eno  Mexicano 
heoho  por  el  Theniente  de  Capn.  Gral.  Dn.  Joseph  de  Escandon,  1746-1747 
(MS.),  in  the  Archive  General. 

'^Escandon's  report  to  the  viceroy  of  Oct.  26,  1747,  and  of  July  27, 
1758.     MSS.  in  the  Archivo  General. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Bosario.  121 

and  along  the  Rio  Grande,  while  under  his  instructions  Captain 
Joaquin  de  Orobio  y  Basterra,  commander  at  Bahia,  in  Texas,  ex- 
amined the  region  from  the  Guadalupe  to  the  Rio  Grande.  Their 
reports  contain  the  first  detailed  information  that  we  have  concern- 
ing the  natives  and  the  topography  of  many  parts  of  this  extended 
area.  As  an  illustration,  it  may  be  noted  that  hitherto  it  was  sup- 
posed that  the  Nueces  River  emptied  into  the  Rio  Grande.  In  conse- 
quence of  these  inspections  Escandon  recommended  moving  the  mis- 
sion and  presidio  from  Bahia  to  a  site  on  the  lower  San  Antonio 
called  Santa  Dorotea  (near  modem  Goliad),  and  projected  the 
foundation  of  fourteen  Spanish  villas  in  the  territory  under  his 
charge.  One  of  these  was  to  be  villa  de  Vedoya,  composed  of  fifty 
families,  and  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nueces  near  the  site  of 
modern  Corpus  Christi.  Adjacent  to  the  town  was  to  be  the  mis- 
sion of  Nuestra  Seiiora  de  el  Soto,  to  minister  to  the  Zuncal,  Pajase- 
queis  (or  Carrizos)  Apatines,  Napuapes,  Pantapareis,  and  other 
tribes  of  the  vicinity.  Another  of  the  fourteen  towns  was  to  be 
villa  de  Balmaceda,  established  with  twenty-five  families  at  Santa 
Dorotea.^  The  successful  establishment  of  this  villa  would,  he 
believed,  make  possible  the  suppression  of  the  presidio  of  Bahia  in 
three  or  four  years,  and  thus  remove  the  chief  ground  for  hostility 
on  the  part  of  the  coast  Indians.^ 

The  plans  for  the  southern  half  of  the  territory  met  with  a  large 
measure  of  permanent  success.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Laredo, 
Camargo,  Reynosa,  and  several  other  settlements  were  founded 
along  and  south  of  the  Rio  Grande.  That  the  outcome  in  the  north- 
ern half  was  different  was  not  the  fault  of  Escandon.  In  accordance 
with  his  plan,  the  presidio  of  Bahia  and  the  mission  of  Espiritu 
Santo  were  in  1749  moved  some  ten  leagues  southwest  to  Santa 
Dorotea ;  but  the  families  sent  to  settle  on  the  Nueces,  fearing  harm 
from  the  Indians,  backed  out,  and  were  allowed  to  return  and  found 
instead  the  present  town  of  Soto  la  Marina ;  while  the  plan  to  estab- 
lish villa  de  Balmaceda  failed  because  at  the  fiscal's  instance  Escan- 

^Reconocimiento  del  Seno  Mexicano,  folios  40-44,  85,  88,  110,  216;  also 
Valcarcel  to  the  viceroy,  Feb.  1,  1758.  The  tribal  names  here  given  are 
those  reported  by  Orobio  y  Basterra  for  the  vicinity  of  the  Nueces.  I 
have  not  thus  far  attempted,  to  identify  the  tribes  with  those  of  the  region 
going  under  better-known  names. 

^'Report  of  EscandCn,  Oct.  26,  1747;  Valcarcel  to  the  viceroy,  Feb.  1, 
1758. 


k 


122  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

don  was  refused  the  requisite  funds.  Had  the  government  sup- 
ported Escandon  in  this  and  his  subsequent  efforts  to  plant  colonies 
between  the  San  Antonio  and  the  Rio  Grande,  there  seems  no  good 
reason  why  the  Spanish  hold  might  not  have  been  made  as  secure  in 
this  region  as  it  was  beyond  the  Rio  Grande.^  But  this  it  failed 
to  do. 

Nevertheless,  the  removal  of  Bahia  to  Santa  Dorotea  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  effort  to  revive  missionary  work  among  the  Karan- 
kawan  tribes  which  resulted  in  the  successful  establishment  of  mis- 
sion Rosario. 

4.     The  Quarrel  Between  Queretarans  and  Zacatecans  Over  the 

Cujanes. 

On  April  14,  1750,  the  viceroy  exhorted  the  missionaries  at  the 
new  site  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  reduce,  congregate,  and  convert 
the  Cujanes,  Carancaguases,  and  Guapites.  They  were  to  be  treated 
with  the  utmost  kindness,  given  presents,  and  promised,  on  behalf 
of  the  government,  that  if  they  would  settle  in  a  pueblo  they 
would  be  given  new  missions,  protected,  and  supplied  with  all  neces- 
saries.^ Similar  instructions  were  written  to  Captain  Manuel 
Ramirez  de  la  Piszina,  the  new  commander  of  the  presidio  of  Bahia. 

If  we  may  trust  the  reports  of  the  missionaries  and  the  cap- 
tain, they  went  zealously  to  work  among  these  three  tribes  in 
response  to  the  viceroy's  order.  But  little  or  nothing  seems  to  have 
been  accomplished  until  their  rivals,  the  Queretaran  friars  at  San 
Antonio,  entered  the  same  field.^ 

At  this  time  the  Queretaran  missions  at  San  Antonio  were  short 
of  neophytes,  partly  because  of  an  epidemic  that  had  made  ravages 
among  the  mission  Indians.*  On  the  other  hand  these  missions 
were  just  now  under  the  direction  of  Father  Fr.  Juan  Mariano  de 
los  Dolores,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  missionary  revival  which  we 
have  mentioned.    For  these  reasons,  and  since  the  Karankawans  had 

^Cf.  Escandon's  report,  July  27,  1758,  again  urging  the  colonization  of 
this  whole  strip  of  country. 

^Summary  by  Camberos,  missionary  at  this  time  in  Bahia. 

*Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  26,  1751 ;  Camberos  to  the  viceroy,  May  30, 
1754. 

^Father  Dolores,  missionary  at  San  Antonio,  to  Father  Gonzales,  mis- 
sionary at  Esplritu  Santo,  June  17,  1751. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Bosario.  123 

long  been  without  mission  influence,  the  Queretarans  entertained 
the  plan  of  gathering  them,  especially  the  Cujanes,^  into  their  par- 
ticular fold.  Whether  the  idea  originated  with  Father  Santa  Ana, 
former  president  of  the  San  Antonio  missions,  but  now  in  Mexico, 
or  with  Father  Dolores,  his  successor  now  on  the  ground,  does  not 
appear;  but  it  is  through  Santa  Ana  that  we  first  learn  of  the  pro- 
ject, while  it  was  the  latter  who  put  it  into  execution.     Early  in 

1750,  in  a  private  communication  to  Altamira,  the  auditor  general 
of  the  viceregal  government,  Santa  Ana  made  known  the  plan,  in- 
timating that  he  feared  objections  from  the  Zacatecan  friars  at 
Espiritu  Santo,  on  the  ground  that  the  Karankawan  tribes  had  once 
been  assigned  to  that  mission.^  He  doubtless  knew,  too,  that  the 
Zacatecans  had  recently  been  ordered  to  renew  efforts  on  the  coast. 
Altamira  approved  the  project,  saying  that  so  long  as  these  Indians 
remained  in  the  forest  they  belonged  only  to  the  Devil,  and  that 
any  one  who  wished  was  free  to  try  his  hand  at  winning  them  to  the 
Lord.^ 

The  actual  work  from  San  Antonio  was  undertaken  by  Father 
Dolores  with  the  aid  of  Fray  Diego  Martin  Garcia.  Before  entering 
the  field  he  first  asked  the  consent  of  the  principal  missionary  at 
Espiritu  Santo,  Fray  Juan  Joseph  Gronzales.*  Gonzales  replied  that 
such  a  procedure  would  be  satisfactory  to  him,  and  that  he  would 
waive  whatever  right  his  mission  possessed  to  these  Indians.^ 

The  way  was  made  easier  for  Dolores  by  the  presence  of  the  few 
Cujanes  and  Cocos  previously  mentioned  as  being  at  one  of  his 
missions.®  Knowing  by  experience,  as  he  said,  "that  presents  were 
the  most  effective  texts  with  which  to  open  the  conversion  of  sav- 
ages,^' he  began  the  revival  by  sending  to  the  Cujanes,  early  in 

1751,  a  Coco  mission  Indian  bearing  gifts,*^  and  a  promise  that  a 
missionary  would  be  sent  to  them.^ 

^The  plan  evidently  had  in  view  the  "Puxanes  and  others  clear  to  the 
Rio  Grande  del  Norte"   (Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy,  Jan.  31,  1752). 

^Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  20,  1751. 

mid. 

*Hi3  request  was  apparently  made  in  1750.  Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy, 
undated,  but  about  March  22,  1752. 

^Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  2,  1751;  Gonzales  to  Dolores,  Apr.  13, 
1751;  Dolores  to  Santa  Ana,  Oct.  26,  1751. 

^Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  20,  1751. 

TDolores  to  Gonzales,  June  17,  1751. 

^This  pomise  is  inferred  from  Santa  Ana's  letter  of  Dec.  20,  1751. 


124  Texas  Historical  Association  Qicarterly. 

In  spite  of  the  assurance  that  had  been  given  to  Dolores  by  Gon- 
zales, this  move  of  the  former  led  very  speedily  to  a  politely  worded 
but  none  the  less  spirited  dispute  between  the  two.  In  the  competi- 
tion that  attended  the  dispute  Espiritu  Santo  had  decidedly  the 
advantage  of  geographical  position.  The  Cu janes  were  pleased 
with  the  evidence  of  good  will — or  better,  perhaps,  with  the  pros- 
pect of  more  gifts — and,  without  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  prom- 
ised minister,  fifty-four  adults^  set  out  for  San  Antonio  to  confer 
with  Dolores.  When  on  April  8  they  reached  the  neighborhood  of 
Santa  Dorotea,  or  New  Bahia,  they  were  seen  by  some  mission  In- 
dians. These  warned  Captain  Piszina  that  hostile  Cu  janes  were 
near  by  killing  mission  cattle.  A  squadron  of  soldiers  and  Indians 
was  accordingly  sent  out,  and  the  Cu  janes,  after  a  slight  show  of 
fight,  were  taken  to  the  presidio,  and  here  they  remained,  notwith- 
standing their  previous  intention  to  go  to  San  Antonio.^  Gon- 
zales and  Piszina  claimed  that  the  Cu  janes  were  told  that  they 
might  continue  their  journey,  that  no  force  was  used  to  keep  them 
at  Bahia,  and  that  it  was  only  with  misgivings  and  after  delibera- 
tion that  their  request  to  be  allowed  to  remain  at  the  mission  was 
granted.^  But  Dolores  believed  that  if  not  force,  then  persuasion, 
had  been  used  to  rob  him  of  the  fruits  of  his  efforts. 

With  a  forbearance  that  might  be  called  commendable,  however, 
he  held  his  peace,  and  made  another  attempt,  which  likewise  re- 
sulted more  to  the  advantage  of  the  rival  mission  than  of  his  own. 
Some  of  the  Cujanes  had  returned  from  Bahia  to  their  country  and 
gathered  ninety-five  more  Indians  "of  the  Cujan,  Copanes,  Gua- 
pites,  and  Talancagues  tribes."  On  their  way  they  stopped  at 
Bahia,  left  their  women  and  children,  and  went  back  to  gather  a 

^In  his  letter  to  the  viceroy  Dec.  26,  1751,  Captain  Piszina  calls  them 
"fifty-four  Indians  of  the  Coxan  nation";  but  in  the  same  letter  he  says 
that  the  four  recently  reduced  tribes  going  under  the  name  of  Coxan  are 
the  "Cojanes,  Ouapittes,  Carancguases,  and  Copanes."  Hence  we  may  in- 
fer that  these  fifty-four  were  not  exclusively  Cujanes,  although  they  were 
called  by  this  name. 

=^Gonzales  to  Dolores,  Apr.  3,  1751 ;  Dolores  to  Santa  Ana,  Oct.  26,  1751 ; 
Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  20,  1756;  Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  26, 
1751.  Piszina  said  that  they  were  taken  to  Bahia  at  the  end  of  March, 
but  Gonzales's  letter  of  Apr.  13  is  more  reliable  for  the  date,  because 
nearer  the  event  and  more  explicit. 

^Gonzales  to  Dolores,  Apr.  13,  1751;  Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  26, 
1751.  This  last  assertion  casts  doubt  upon  any  claim  the  Bahia  authori- 
ties might  make  to  have  previously  tried  to  take  these  Indians  there. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario.  125 

larger  number  of  their  people,  with  the  intention,  Dolores  under- 
stood, of  going  on  with  them  to  San  Antonio.  He  thereupon  sent 
a  number  of  mules  laden  with  such  supplies  as  might  be  needed  by 
the  Indians  on  their  way.^  Shortly  afterward  a  Coco  arrived  re- 
porting that  one  hundred  and  five  families  were  already  collected 
near  Old  Bahia  and  that  more  were  gathering,  but  that,  unless 
horses  were  sent  at  once  to  transport  them,  they  would  be  diverted 
to  Bahia,  just  as  the  first  band  had  been,  there  to  remain.  Dolores 
now  lost  no  time  in  despatching  Fray  Diego  Martin  with  horses  and 
a  Coco  guide  to  assist  in  bringing  in  the  Cu janes  and  their  friends.^ 

In  a  note  written  soon  after  this,  Gonzales  claimed  that  these 
Indians  desired  to  remain  at  Bahia.^  Thereupon  Dolores  entered  a 
vigorous  protest.  He  reminded  Gonzales  that  he  had  once  waived  his 
right  to  the  coast  Indians,  but  was  now  enticing  them  to  Espiritu 
Santo;  that  but  for  him  (Dolores)  the  Cujanes  and  the  rest  would 
still  be  in  the  woods  and  at  war  with  the  Spaniards,  as  they  had 
always  been;  that  if  after  many  years  the  Espiritu  Santo  mission 
had  failed  to  subdue  the  Jaranames,  whom  they  still  claimed  the 
right  to  monopolize,  they  could  hardly  expect  to  succeed  with  the 
additional  task  of  subduing  the  Cujanes.  Disclaiming  a  wish  to 
quarrel,  he  requested  Gonzales  to  find  out  for  certain,  by  whatever 
means  he  chose,  whether  these  Indians  preferred  to  be  at  Bahia  or 
at  San  Antonio,  and  promised  to  abide  by  the  result,  with  these 
conditions,  that  in  case  they  wished  to  come  to  San  Antonio  they 
must  not  be  hindered,  and  that  if  they  remained  at  Bahia  he  would 
send  in  a  bill  for  the  supplies  he  had  given  them.* 

Dolores  was  now  called  to  the  missions  at  San  Xavier,  and  when 
he  got  back  he  found  new  cause  for  displeasure  with  the  author- 
ities at  Bahia.  In  his  absence  Fray  Diego  Martin  had  returned 
with  twenty-four  Indians  of  the  four  tribes  and  the  rather  flimsy 
report  that  he  might  have  brought  five  hundred  had  it  not  been  for 
their  fear  that  they  would  be  prevented  by  the  soldiers  and  mission- 
aries at  Bahia  from  going  to  San  Antonio.  Meanwhile  none  of  the 
families  who  had  stopped  at  Bahia  had  appeared  in  San  Antonio; 

^Dolores  to  Gonzales,  June  17,  1751. 

mid. 

^Gonzales  to  Dolores,  May  22,  1751,  referred  to  in  Hid. 

*md. 


126  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

consequently,  again  conceding  the  point  backed  by  the  better  argu- 
ment of  possession,  Dolores  advised  the  twenty-four  to  go  to  their 
friends  at  Bahia.  But,  by  no  means  giving  up  his  claim,  he  ap- 
pealed both  to  the  discretorio  of  his  college  and  to  Santa  Ana  for 
authority  to  bring  the  Cu janes  to  his  missions.^ 

Santa  Ana  took  up  the  matter  vigorously  with  the  viceroy,  with 
Andreu,  the  fiscal,  and  with  Altamira,  the  auditor.  He  wrote  let- 
ters, furnished  documents,  and  sought  personal  interviews  in  de- 
fense of  the  rights  of  his  college.  He  argued  that  until  Dolores  had 
pacified  them  the  Karankawan  Indians  had  always  been  hostile; 
that  the  Queretarans  friars  had  been  robbed  of  the  fruits  of  their 
efforts  by  the  Zacatecans,  who  had  done  nothing  except  to  spoil  a 
good  work  well  begun;  that  by  thirty  years  of  idleness  the  latter 
had  forfeited  all  the  rights  they  ever  had  to  the  Karankawan  field ; 
and  that  nothing  could  be  expected  of  them  in  the  future.^  In  view 
of  these  considerations,  he  earnestly  recommended  that  the  work  of 
converting  these  tribes  might  be  entrusted  to  the  Queretarans.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  appeal  was  made  to  law  32,  title  15,  book  I, 
of  the  Recopilacion  de  Indias,  which  provided  that  when  one  re- 
ligious order  had  begun  the  conversion  of  a  tribe  it  should  not  be 
disturbed  by  another.  And  thus  the  dispute  went  on  until  the  end 
of  1752,  when  it  was  closed  in  effect  by  the  fiscaFs  compromise  de- 
cision that  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  joint  work  among  the 
tribes  in  question  would  be  lawful  and  equitable,  and  by  the  vice- 
roy's exhortation  of  all  parties  to  cooperate  in  the  work  of  saving 
Karankawan  souls  for  the  glory  of  ^both  majesties.'* 

5.     Progress  With  the  Cujanes  at  Espiritu  Santo. 

Meanwhile,  the  possession  of  the  Cujanes  and  the  others  had 
proved  a  very  temporary  advantage  to  the  Espiritu  Santo  mission, 
and  even  during  that  short  time  these  "first  fruits  and  hostages  of 
all  that  Gentile  race"  had  added  little  to  the  mission's  glory.  While 
the  Indians  were  there  the  missionaries  succeeded  in  baptizing 
fifteen  in  articulo  mortis;  the  rest  deserted  within  a  few  weeks, 

^Dolores  to  the  discretorio,  undated;  to  Santa  Ana,  Oct.  26,  1751. 
'^Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  20,  1751;  Jan.  31,  1752;  March  22. 
^Tbid. 

*Dictamen  fiscal,  Oct.  2,  1752;  Auditor's  opinion,  Oct.  9,  1752;  Viceroy's 
decree,  Oct.  10,  1752. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Bosario.  127 

so  that  at  the  end  of  1751  none  appear  to  have  remained. 
To  make  matters  worse,  relations  between  the  tribes  and  the  Span- 
iards again  became  strained  through  the  unexplained  killing  of  five 
Cu janes  by  their  hosts. ^ 

Altamira  had  at  first  favored  Santa  Ana^s  proposal  to  take  the 
Cujanes  to  San  Antonio.  But  when  conflicting  reports  and  news 
of  the  desertion  of  the  Indians  reached  him  he  lost  his  patience  and 
delivered  himself  of  a  generous  amount  of  ill-natured  truth  about 
mission  history,  at  the  same  time  showing  his  hearty  sympathy 
with  Escandon^s  policy  of  settlement  as  a  complement  to  the  mis- 
sion and  as  a  substitute  for  the  garrison.  "All  the  foregoing,"  he 
said,  "but  illustrates  how,  in  this  as  in  all  like  affairs  of  places  at 
such  long  and  unpeopled  distances,  come  inopportune  and  irregular 
letters,  proposals,  representations,  and  petitions,  that  only  leave 
the  questions  unintelligible.  Thus  in  his  report  the  captain  [Pis- 
zina]  begins  by  saying  'In  obedience  to  Your  Excellency's  superior 
order,'  without  saying  what  order,  or  without  specifying  what  he 
considers  necessary  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  in  question. 
This  conversion  he  assumes  as  assured  simply  because  a  few  of  them 
have  submitted,  when  he  can  not  be  ignorant  of  their  notorious  in- 
constancy. And  Eev.  Padre  Santa  Anna,  who  had  experienced 
this  inconstancy,  on  Dec.  20  plead  the  cause  of  these  same  Cu- 
janes, only  to  report  forty  days  after  (on  Jan.  31,  of  this  year)  that 
the  occasion  had  passed  because  all  of  the  Indians  had  deserted. 
This  is  what  happens  daily  on  those  and  all  the  other  unsettled 
frontiers. 

"The  same  will  be  true  two  hundred  years  hence  unless  there  be 
established  there  settlements  of  Spaniards  and  civilized  people  to 
protect,  restrain,  and  make  respectable  the  barbarous  Indians  who 
may  be  newly  congregated,  assuring  them  before  their  eyes  a  living 
example  of  civilized  life,  application  to  labor,  and  to  the  faith. 
Without  this  they  will  always  remain  in  the  bonds  of  their  native 
brutality,  inherited  for  many  centuries,  as  happens  in  the  missions 
of  the  Eio  Grande,  of  [East]  Texas,  and  all  the  rest  where  there 
are  no  Spanish  settlements,  for  the  Indians  there,  after  having 

^Dolores  to  Santa  Ana,  Oct.  26,  1751;  Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  26, 
1751  (Piszina,  referring  to  the  iBfty-four,  said  they  remained  two  and  one- 
half  months)  ;  Santa  Ana  to  the  viceroy,  Jan.  31,  1752. 


128  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

been  congregated   fifty  years  or   more,  return  to   the   woods   at 

Notwithstanding  the  unflattering  outcome  of  the  enterprise  thus 
far,  the  missionaries  and  the  captain  at  Bahia,  roused  into  activity 
by  their  rivals,  continued  their  efforts  to  cultivate  friendship  with 
their  traditional  enemies,  and,  although  conversions  were  few,  they 
were  otherwise  comparatively  successful.^  During  the  next  two 
years  they  spent  considerable  sums  from  their  own  pockets  for  pres- 
ents and  supplies,  and  Piszina  made  the  occasion  an  excuse  for 
asking  the  government  for  more  soldiers,  more  money,  and  more 
missionaries.  Writing  in  Dec,  1751,  he  said  that  the  recent 
friendly  attitude  of  the  coast  Indians,  though  favorable  to  mis- 
sionary work,  also  increased  the  expenses  and  made  more  workers 
necessary,  for  the  four  tribes  included  under  the  name  Coxanes 
would  comprise  five  hundred  warriors  besides  their  families.  More- 
over, their  conversion  would  make  more  soldiers  necessary,  since 
they  were  really  more  dangerous  at  peace  than  at  war;  for  besides 
being  treacherous  themselves,  the  unfriendly  Indians  on  the  coast 
would  visit  their  relatives  at  the  mission  and  thus  learn  the  weak- 
ness of  the  garrison.  While,  therefore,  more  missionaries  and  more 
supplies  would  be  necessary  before  these  tribes  could  be  converted, 
their  reduction  would  require  an  increase  of  soldiers  to  guard  the 
Spaniards  against  the  treachery  of  the  neophytes  and  against  their 
friends  still  upon  the  coast.  Within  two  years  Piszina  made  three 
such  appeals  to  the  viceroy.^ 

6.     The  Plan  to  Transfer  the  Ais  Mission  to  Bahia. 

By  the  end  of  this  time  the  local  authorities  conceived  the  idea 
of  founding  a  separate  mission  especially  for  the  Cu janes  and  their 
friends,  as  a  substitute  for  trying  to  reduce  them  at  mission  Espi- 
ritu  Santo  with  Indians  of  another  race.  To  effect  this  plan  the 
best  informed  person,  and  probably  the  father  of  the  project, 
Fray  Juan  de  Dies  Camberos,  missionary  at  Espiritu  Santo  went  to 
Zacatecas,  and  was  sent  thence  by  the  college  to  Mexico.*    His  ap- 

^Altamira  to  the  viceroy,.  Feb.  29,  1752. 

^Andreu  to  the  viceroy. 

"Dec.  26,  1751;  3>ec.  31,  1753,  and  another  mentioned  in  this  last. 

*Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  30,  1753;  Camberos  to  the  viceroy,  OVIiiy  30, 
1754.  It  is  inferred  from  the  context  that  Piszina's  letter  here  recited 
was  sent  by  Camberos  to  the  viceroy. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario.  l29 

pointment  was  dated  Feb.  26,  1754,  and  was  signed  by  Fray  Gas- 
par  Joseph  de  Soils,  guardian  of  the  college,  and  later  known  in 
Texas  by  his  tour  of  inspection  among  the  missions.^ 

In  his  communications  to  the  viceroy  of  April  29,  May  6,  7,  and 
30,  Camberos  set  forth  the  situation  and  his  plan.  The  Cujanes 
and  their  kindred,  he  said,^  were  eagerly  asking  for  a  mission;  so 
eager,  indeed,  that  six  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Cujanes,  Carancaguases, 
and  Guapites  were  clamoring  to  be  allowed  to  come  to  see  the  vice- 
roy himself  in  reference  to  the  matter.  But  it  was  inadvisable  to 
put  them  into  mission  Espiritu  Santo  together  with  the  Jaranames 
and  Tamiques  already  there,  for  they  were  tribes  of  different  lan- 
guages, of  different  habits,  and  unfriendly.  But  to  send  them  to 
San  Antonio  was  equally  impracticable,  for  they  did  not  wish  to 
leave  the  neighborhood  of  Bahia  del  Espiritu  Santo,  their  native 
country.  Even  if  the  Indians  were  willing  to  be  transplanted,  ex- 
perience had  shown  that  this  was  bad  policy,  for  the  Pamaques  and 
other  tribes,  removed  to  San  Antonio  from  their  native  soil  on  the 
Nueces,  had  speedily  become  almost  extinguished.  This  very  con- 
sideration had  caused  General  Escandon  to  order  Captain  Piszina 
not  to  allow  the  Indians  of  his  district  to  be  taken  from  their  coun- 
try. Moreover,  if  the  mission  were  near  the  home  of  the  Indians, 
fugitive  neophytes  could  be  easily  recovered,  whereas,  if  they  were 
taken  to  San  Antonio,  the  soldiers  and  missionaries  would  have  to 
spend  most  of  their  time  pursuing  them. 

Camberos  advised,  therefore,  the  establishment  of  a  separate  mis- 
sion. But  to  save  the  expense  of  equipping  a  new  one  he  recom- 
mended removing  mission  Nuestra  Sehora  de  los  Ais  from  near  the 
Sabine  to  the  neighborhood  of  Bahia,  and  re-establishing  it  for  the 
Cujanes.  His  arguments  in  favor  of  his  plan  are  an  interesting 
commentary,  coming  as  they  do  from  a  zealous  Zacatecan,  upon  the 
comparative  failure  of  the  East  Texas  missions.  The  three  Zaca- 
tecan foundations  in  EasfTexas,  San  Miguel  de  los  Adaes,  Nuestra 
Sehora  de  los  Dolores  de  los  Ais,  and  Nuestra  Sehora  de  Guadalupe 
de  los  Nacogdoches  had  been  existing  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
and  yet,  according  to  him,  notwithstanding  the  untiring  efforts  of 
the  missionaries  to  reduce  the  Indians  to  mission  life,  it  was  notor- 
ious that  they  had  succeeded  in  little  more  than  the  baptizing  of 

^The  original  commission,  with  seal,  is  in  the  Archive  General  de  Mexico. 


130  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

a  few  children  and  fewer  adults  upon  the  deathbed ;  and  there  was 
no  hope  that  these  tribes  could  ever  be  reduced  to  pueblos  and  in- 
duced to  give  up  their  tribal  life.  Under  these  circumstances  four 
missionaries  instead  of  five  would  suffice  on  that  frontier.  Since 
the  Ais  Indians  consisted  of  only  some  forty  families — ^perhaps  two 
hundred  persons — living  within  about  fourteen  leagues  of  mission 
Nacogdoches/  their  mission  could  be  suppressed,  one  missionary 
going  to  Nacogdoches  to  reside  and  from  there  ministering  to  the 
Ais,  the  other  going  to  Bahia  with  the  mission  equipment,  to  work 
among  the  Karankawan  tribes  in  question.^ 

At  first  Andreu,  the  fiscal,  disapproved  the  plan  on  the  ground 
that  with  the  padre  so  far  away,  travel  so  difficult,  and  the  Ais  In- 
dians so  indifferent,  they  would  lose  not  only  the  wholesome  ex- 
ample of  the  missionary  in  their  daily  life,  but  even  the  slight  re- 
ligious benefits  which  they  now  received.^  But  Camberos  sug- 
gested that  the  minister  might  incorporate  the  Ais  with  their  kin- 
dred, the  Little  Ais  (Aixittos),*  living  two  leagues  from  the  Nacog- 
doches mission.  He  concluded  by  reminding  the  fiscal  that  it  was 
after  all  a  question  of  relative  service.  On  the  one  hand,  here  were 
scarce  forty  families  of  Ais,  who  for  thirty  years  had  shown  them- 
selves irreducible;  on  the  other  hand,  there  were  five  hundred  or 
more  families  of  Cu janes,  Guapites,  and  Carancaguases,  "as  ready 
to  be  instructed  in  the  mysteries  of  our  faith  as  the  Ayx  are  repug- 
nant to  living  in  Christian  society";  for  two  years  they  had  been 
and  still  were  firm  in  their  anxious  desire  to  be  reduced  to  a  pueblo 
and  instructed.  Was  it  not  jfc  matter  of  duty  to  save  the  willing 
many  rather  than  to  struggle^opelessly  with  the  unwilling  few?^ 

These  arguments  convinced  the  fiscal  and  the  auditor,  whereupon 
the  viceroy,  on  June  17  and  June  21,  issued  to  the  governor  and  the 
college  the  necessary  decrees  for  effecting  the  transfer.  The  order 
to  the  college  provided  "that  the  mission  (^  Nuestra  Senora  de  los 
Dolores  de  los  Ais,  situated  in  the  provinSPof  los  Texas,  should  be 

^Father  Vallejo,  of  Adaes,  maintained  that  the  distance  was  nearly 
twenty  leagues.     Letter  to  the  discretorio  of  his  college,  Dec.  1,  1754. 

Camberos  to  the  viceroy,  Apr.  29,  May  6,  May  7,  and  May  Jtt. 

^Andreu  to  the  viceroy,  May  2,  1754.  ^ 

*This  name  was  sometimes  written  Aijitos,  but  it  was  intended  for  the 
diminutive  of  Ais,  and  when  spelled  with  an  x  was  pronounced,  no  doubt, 
"Aisitos." 

''Camberos  to  the  viceroy.  May  30,  1754. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario.  131 

totally  abandoned;  that  of  the  two  ministers  there,  one  should  re- 
main at  mission  Nacogdoches,  it  being  the  nearest  at  hand,  in  order 
that  he  might  assist  with  the  waters  of  holy  baptism  all  the  children 
and  adults  who  might  wish  this  benefit ;  and  that  the  other  should 
go  to  found  the  new  mission  of  the  Guapittes,  Cu janes,  and  Caran- 
caguases  in  the  territory  of  la  Bahla  del  Espiritu  Santo,  for  which 
purpose  all  the  ornaments,  furniture,  and  other  goods  of  the 
mission  of  los  Aix  should  be  given  to  this  minister  and  transferred 
to  the  new  mission."^ 

But  now  a  protest  was  heard  from  East  Texas.  Upon  receiving 
the  viceroy^s  order  to  extinguish  the  Ais  mission.  Father  Vallejo, 
president  of  the  Zacatecan  establishments  on  the  eastern  frontier, 
and  a  veteran  of  thirty  years^  service,  first  sought  the  opinion  of 
the  governor.  His  opinion  was  Hostile  to  the  change.^  Vallejo, 
with  this  backing,  wrote  to  the  guardian  of  his  college  that  the 
Ais  mission  was  by  no  means  useless,  and  that  until  he  should  get 
further  instructions  he  would  defer  the  execution  of  the  order. 
True,  he  said,  the  Ais  Indians  had  not  yet  adopted  mission  life,  in 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  fathers ;  yet  they  were  being  baptized  in 
articulo  mortis — the  records  showed  158  such  baptisms  in  36 
years — ;  the  padre  was  useful  as  physician  and  nurse  among  them ; 
and  the  friendly  relations  with  the  Indians,  who  assisted  will- 
ingly in  the  domestic  and  agricultural  duties  about  the  mission, 
offered  still  a  hope  that  they  would  settle  down  to  pueblo  life.  In- 
deed, when  Father  Cyprian  had  been  missionary  he  had  had  them 
congregated  for  a  space  of  four  years,  and  Father  Garcia  had  like- 
wise kept  them  content  about  the  mls|ion  till,  because  of  a  recent 
scarcity  of  mission  supplies,  one  of  tW  chiefs  had  persuaded  them 
to  return  to  their  rancherias.  But  if  the  missionary  were  to  retire 
to  Nacogdoches,  the  distance  and  the  difficulties  of  travel  were  so 
great  that  the  Indians  would  be  without  aid,  and  would  likely 
abandon  their  country,  just  as  the  Nazones  had  done  when  the  mis- 
sionaries had  deserted  thl^  (1729).  The  good  father  could  not 
close  his  argument  without  appealing  to  the  fear  of  the  French, 

^Summary  contained  in  the  communication  of  the  discretorio  to  the 
viceroy,  Jan^A  1755. 

^Vallejo  to^overnor  Barrios  y  Jauregui,  Nov.  20,  1754;  the  governor 
to  Vallejo,  Nov.  30,  1754.  The  president's  name  was  sometimes  spelled 
with  a  B  and  sometimes  with  a  V. 


132  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

tactics  which  had  stood  many  a  special  pleader  in  good  stead  within 
the  last  half  century.  So  he  added  that,  aside  from  the  importance 
of  the  Ais  mission  to  the  Indians,  it  was  necessary  as  a  half-way 
station  between  Nacogdoches  and  Adaes  to  give  succor  in  case  of 
hostile  invasion.  He  maintained  therefore  that  the  mission 
should  be  continued  at  all  hazards,  even  if  with  only  one  minister'.^ 
This  letter  put  an  end  to  the  effort  to  suppress  the  Ais  mission, 
and  set  in  motion  a  new  plan.  The  discretorio,  whence  the  idea 
of  extinguishing  los  Ais  had  come,  reported  to  the  viceroy  and  sus- 
tained Vallejo's  objections,  and  suggested,  instead,  a  new  mission 
for  the  Cu janes,  maintaining,  perhaps  with  truth,  but  with  little 
regard  for  its  former  argument  based  on  economy,  that  to  equip  a 
new  mission  would  be  little  more  expensive  than  to  transfer  the  old 
one.^  So  the  matter  again  went  to  the  fiscal,  and  he,  on  March  6, 
1755,  without  other  discussion  than  a  review  of  the  question,  em- 
braced the  new  plan,  and  recommended  that  the  Ais  mission  be  al- 
lowed to  remain  and  that  a  new  one  be  established  for  the  coast 
tribes.^  On  March  22  the  auditor  approved  the  project,  and  on 
April  7,  the  viceroy  issued  the  corresponding  decree.* 

7.     Founding  Mission  Nuestra  Senora  del  Rosario  de  los  Cu  janes. 

But  matters  at  Bahia  had  not  waited  for  the  viceroy  to  change  his 
mind.  Some  time  before  this  steps  had  already  been  taken,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  previous  order — that  looking  to  the  transfer  of  the 
old  establishment  to  a  new  site — ^toward  the  actual  foundation  of 
the  mission  for  the  Cu  janes  and  their  friends. 

The  government  was  slower  to  supply  means  than  to  sanction 
projects,  and  the  funds  with  which  to  begin  the  work  were  raised 
by  private  gifts  to  the  college  or  advanced  by  Piszina  and  the  mis- 
sionaries at  Bahia,  while  part  of  the  mission  furniture  was  bor- 
rowed from  mission  Espiritu  Santo.'^    Camberos  was  sent  to  super- 

^Fray  Francisco  Vallejo  to  the  guardian  and  the  discretorio  of  the  col- 
lege, Dec.  1,  1754. 

''The  discretorio  of  the  college  to  the  viceroy,  January  6,  1755. 
^Andreu  to  the  viceroy,  March  6,  1755, 

*Valcarcel  to  the  viceroy,  IVIarch  22;  viceroy  decree,  Apr.  7. 
''Letter  of  Camberos,  May  26,  1758. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario.  133 

vise  the  foundation/  which  was  begun  in  November,  1754.  Piszina 
spared  nine  soldiers  to  act  as  a  guard,  to  assist  with  their  hands, 
and  to  direct  the  Indians,  some  of  whom  were  induced  to  help  in 
the  building  and  in  preparing  the  field.  On  Jan.  15  Piszina  thus 
wrote  of  the  mission  site  and  of  progress  in  the  work :  "The  place 
assigned  for  the  congregation  of  these  Indians,  Excellent  Sir,  is 
four  leagues  from  this  presidio.^  It  has  all  the  advantages  known 
to  be  useful  and  necessary  for  the  foundation  of  a  large  settlement, 
and,  in  my  estimation,  the  country  is  the  best  yet  discovered  in 
these  parts.  It  has  spacious  plains,  and  very  fine  meadows  skirted 
by  the  River  San  Antonio,  which  appears  to  offer  facilities  for  a 
canal  to  irrigate  the  crops.  In  the  short  time  of  two  months  since 
the  building  of  the  material  part  of  the  mission  was  begun,  a  decetit 
[wooden]  church  for  divine  worship  has  been  finished.  It  is  better 
made  than  that  of  this  presidio  and  the  mission  of  Espiritu  Santo. 
There  have  been  completed  also  the  dwellings  for  the  minister  and 
the  other  necessary  houses  and  offices,  all  surrounded  by  a  field 
large  enough  to  plant  ten  fanegas  of  maize."^  Two  years  later  it 
was  reported  that  irrigation  facilities  were  about  to  be  completed; 
that  a  dam  of  lime  and  stone  forty  varas  long  and  four  varas  high 
had  been  built  across  an  arroyo  carrying  enough  water  to  fill  it  in 
four  months,  and  that  all  that  was  lacking  was  the  canal,  which 
would  soon  be  finished.*  But  this  work  seems  not  to  have  been  com- 
pleted. Within  a  few  years — how  soon  does  not  appear — a  strong 
wooden  stockade  was  built  around  the  mission.^    ESWCTOft  LlbW^ 

The  name  by  which  Camberos  called  the  mission  in  his  reports 
was  "Nuestra  Senora  del  Rosario  de  los  Co  janes."®  Contemporary 
government  documents  sometimes  call  it  by  this  name,  and  some- 
times simply  "Nuestra  Senora  del  Rosario";  while  Solis,  official     = 

^It  is  not  clear  when  the  missionary  from  Los  Ais  went  to  Rosario  to 
assist  Camberos.  But  that  he  did  go  before  May  27,  1757,  appears  from 
ft  letter  of  that  date.  Strangely,  however,  the  correspondence  in  several 
instances  speaks  qf  the  missionary  in  the  singular,  and  while  Camberos 
commends  Captain  Piszia  for  his  co-operatin,  he  mentions  no  ecclesiasti- 
cal associate.  (The  discretorio  to  the  viceroy,  May  27,  1757;  opinion  of 
Valcareel,  Feb.  1,  1758;  report  to  the  junta  de  guerra,  Apr.  17,  1758;  Juan 
Martin  de  Astiz  to  the  viceroy,  on  or  before  June  21,  1758.) 

^See  page  134. 

^Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Jan.  15. 

*The  discretorio  of  the  college  to  the  viceroy,  May  27,  1757. 

'Soils,  Diario,  1767-1768.     Memorias,  XXVII,  258.     See  page  137. 

'Camberos  to  the  viceroy.  May  26,  1758. 


134  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

inspector  for  the  college,  in  his  diary  of  1768  calls  it  "Mision  del 
Santissimo  Eosario,"  and  "Mision  del  Eosario."^  The  last  is  the 
more  usual  and  popular  form  of  the  name.  The  addition  of  "de 
los  Co  janes"  indicates  in  part  the  prominence  of  the  Cujan  tribe  in 
the  mission,  and  also  the  prevalent  usage  of  their  name  as  a  generic 
term  for  the  Karankawan  tribes.  The  location  of  Eosario  was 
given  by  Piszina  as  four  leagues  from  the  presidio  of  Bahia^ — in 
which  direction  he  does  not  say,  but  it  was  clearly  up  stream.  As 
will  be  seen,  Piszina's  estimate  of  the  distance  from  Bahia  was 
too  great,  unless  the  location  of  Eosario  was  subsequently  changed. 
We  learn  from  Solls's  diary  of  1768  that  mission  Espiritu  Santo 
was  "in  sight  of  the  Eoyal  Presidio  [apparently  almost  on  the  site 
of  modern  Goliad],  with  nothing  between  them  but  the  river,  which 
is  crossed  by  a  canoe"  ;^  and  in  1793  Eevilla  Gigedo  reported  mission 
Eosario  as  two  leagues  nearer  than  Espiritu  Santo  to  Bexar.*  I  am 
informed  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Passmore,  of  Goliad,  that  the  ruins  today 
identified  as  those  of  Espiritu  Santo  are  across  the  river  from 
Goliad,  and  that  four  miles  west  of  these,  one-half  a  mile  south  of 
the  San  Antonio  Eiver,  are  the  ruins  identified,  correctly,  no  doubt, 
as  those  of  mission  Eosario.^ 

Lack  of  funds  for  current  expenses  and  to  properly  establish 
agriculture  and  grazing  greatly  handicapped  the  missionaries  and 
Captain  Piszina,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Indians  did  not 
prove  as  eager  to  embrace  the  blessings  of  Christianity  as  the  un- 
initiated might  have  been  led  to  expect  from  the  former  reports 
of  their  anxiety  to  do  so.  They  came  to  the  mission  from  time  to 
time,  and  helped  more  or  less  with  the  work,  but  when  provisions 
gave  out  they  were  perforce  allowed,  or  even  advised,  to  return  to 
the  coast.^ 

The  number  who  frequented  the  mission  and  availed  themselves 
of  these  periodical  supplies  must  have  been  considerable,  for  within 
less  than  a  year  of  the  founding  of  the  mission,  Piszina  reported 

memorias,  XXVII,  256,  266;  Aranda  to  the  viceroy,  July  19,  1758. 

^See  ante,  page  133. 

^Memorids  de  Nueva  Esfxma,  XXVII,  264. 

*Carta  dirigida  d  la  carte  de  Espana,  Dec.  27,  1793. 

''From  what  I  can  learn,  it  seems  probable  that  the  buildings  at  Groliad 
whose  remains  are  now  called  "Mission  Aranama"  were  connected  with  the 
presidio  of  Bahia  rather  than  with  a  mission. 

'Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  22,  1756;  Camberos,  May  26,  1758. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario,  135 

that  one  thousand  pesos  in  private  funds  had  been  spent  for  maize, 
meat,  cotton  cloth,  tobacco,  etc. ;  a  year  later  he  said  that  the  num- 
ber of  Indians  at  mission  Espiritu  Santo — a  number  large  enough 
to  consume  five  or  six  bulls  a  week— was  smaller  than  the  number 
at  Kosario,^  and  that  in  all  six  thousand  pesos  had  been  spent  in 
supporting  the  latter. 

But  conversions  were  slow,  and  the  total  harvest  after  four  years' 
work  was  twenty-one  souls  baptized  in  articulo  mortis  —  twelve 
adults  and  nine  children.  In  May,  1758,  only  one  of  the  Indians 
living  at  the  mission  was  baptized.  Camberos  claimed  that  this 
small  showing  of  baptisms  was  partly  due  to  his  conservatism.  "If 
I  had  been  over-ready  in  baptizing  Indians,"  he  said,  "at  the  end 
of  these  four  years  you  would  have  found  this  coast  nearly  covered 
with  the  holy  baptism ;  but  experience  has  taught  me  that  baptisms 
performed  hastily  make  of  Indians  Christians  who  are  so  only  in 
name,  and  who  live  in  the  woods  undistinguishable  from  the  in- 
fidel.''^ 

The  Indians  were  hard  to  manage,  gave  the  soldiers  much  diffi- 
culty,^ and  sustained  their  old  reputation  for  being  inconstant, 
unfaithful,  and  dissatisfied.  The  example  of  San  Xavier,  where  a 
padre  had  recently  been  murdered,  was  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the 
missionaries,  and  even  when  the  Indians  at  Kosario  were  best  dis- 
posed it  was  feared  that  they  might  revolt  and  harm  their  benefac- 
tors. The  Cu janes  in  particular  were  feared,  for,  besides  being 
the  most  numerous,  they  were  regarded  as  especially  bold  and  un- 
manageable.* This  fear,  together  with  danger  from  the  Apaches, 
was  ground  for  some  of  the  numerous  appeals  made  for  an  increase 
of  soldiers  at  the  presidio,  and  for  the  building  of  the  stockade. 

As  soon  as  Piszina  had  finished  the  mission  buildings  he  had  re- 
newed his  former  request  for  ten  additional  soldiers,^  and  had  asked 
the  government  to  assist  the  new  mission  with  the  usual  one  year's 
supplies,  in  addition  to  the  ornaments  and  furniture.  Thereafter 
his  appeal  was  frequently  repeated,®  and  was  seconded  by  the  col- 

^Piszina  to  the  viceroy,  Nov.  10,  1755,  and  Dec.  22,  1756. 

''Letter  dated  May  23,   1758. 

^PiszJina  to  the  viceroy,  Dec.  22,  1756. 

*The  disoretorio  to  the  viceroy,  May  27,  1757. 

"See  page  128. 

"Letters  to  the  viceroy,  Jan.  15,  1755,  Nov.  10,  1755;  Dec.  22,  1756. 


136  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly, 

lege,  by  Camberos,  and  by  Governor  Barrios  y  Jauregui.^  But  for 
three  years  the  government  only  discussed,  procrastinated,  and 
called  for  reports,  until  finally  in  a  junta  de  guerra  y  hacienda  held 
Apr.  17,  1758,  the  various  items  asked  for  were  granted.* 

8.    Ten  Years  After. 

With  this  belated  aid  the  mission  became  more  prosperous — as 
prosperous,  indeed,  as  could  be  expected  under  the  circumstances. 
In  1768  it  was  able  to  report  a  total  of  two  hundred  baptisms,  which, 
so  far  as  mere  numbers  go,  was  relatively  as  good  a  showing  as  had 
been  made  by  its  neighbor  among  tribes  somewhat  more  docile, 
and  nearly  as  good  as  that  made  by  San  Jose,  the  finest  mission 
in  all  New  Spain.  At  this  time  there  must  have  been  from  one 
hundred  to  two  hundred  Indians,  at  least,  living  intermittently  in 
the  mission.  But  residence  or  baptism  did  not  of  necessity  signify 
any  great  change  in  the  savage  nature  of  the  Indians.  They  were 
hard  to  control,  and  were  with  difficulty  kept  at  the  mission,  made  to 
work,  and  induced  to  give  up  their  crude  ways.  If  corporal  pun- 
ishment was  used,  which  was  sometimes  the  case,^  the  neophytes 
ran  away;  and  if  they  complained  of  harsh  treatment  by  the 
padres,  they  were  likely  to  find  willing  listeners  among  the  soldiers. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  follow  out  the  history  of 
the  mission  after  its  foundation.  But  it  may  vivify  the  reader^s 
impression,  and  help  him  to  secure  a  more  correct  idea  of  a  frontier 
mission  of  the  less  substantial  sort  and  of  the  conditions  surround- 
ing it  to  reproduce  here  some  parts  of  the  diary  account  of  Rosario 
made  in  1768  by  Father  Soils,  the  official  inspector  of  the  Texas 
missions  for  his  college.    I  therefore  quote  the  following: 

"[Feb.]  26.    I  passed  through  an  opening  called  the  Guardian, 

^The  discretorio  to  the  viceroy,  May  27,  1757  (At  the  end  of  1755  the 
college  sent  an  agent  to  the  viceroy  in  person  to  urge  haste  in  the  matter)  ; 
Barrios  y  Jauregui  to  the  viceroy,  Aug.  26,  1757;  Letter  to  Camberos, 
May  26,  1756. 

^Report  of  the  junta,  in  the  Archivo  General,  original  MS.  The  discus- 
sion of  the  question  by  the  government  may  be  found  in  communications 
of  Aranda  to  the  viceroy,  Jan,  24,  1758;  Aranda  to  the  viceroy,  March  10, 
1757;  Valcarcel  to  the  viceroy,  Apr.  5,  1757;  Valcarcel  to  the  viceroy, 
Feb.  1,  1758;  report  of  the  junta  de  guerra,  Apr.  17,  1758. 

^In  1768  an  investigation  was  made  at  this  mission  as  a  result  of  the! 
flight  of  some  of  the  Carancaguases,  with  the  result  that  charges  of  harsh 
dealing  with  the  neophytes  were  reported  to  the  government  at  Mexico. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Eosario.  137 

then  through  others,  and  arrived  at  Mission  del  Santissimo  Eosario, 
where  I  was  received  by  the  minister  with  much  attention.  The 
Indians  who  had  remained  at  the  mission — for  many  were  fugitive 
in  the  woods  and  on  the  shore — came  out  in  gala  array  as  an  em- 
bassy to  meet  me  on  the  way.  .  .  .  The  captain  of  la  Bahia  re- 
mained and  posted  a  picket  of  soldiers  to  keep  guard  by  day  and 
by  night.  This  mission  is  extremely  well  kept  in  all  respects.  It 
secures  good  water  from  Eio  San  Antonio  de  Vejar.  The  country 
is  pleasant  and  luxurious.  .  .  .  The  climate  is  very  bad  and 
unhealthful,  hot,  and  humid,  with  southerly  winds.  Everything, 
including  one's  clothing,  becomes  damp,  even  within  the  houses, 
as  if  it  were  put  in  water.  Even  the  inner  walls  wreak  with  water 
as  if  it  were  raining. 

"28.  I  went  to  dine  at  the  royal  presidio  of  La  Bahia  del  Espi- 
ritu  Santo,  at  the  invitation  of  the  captain.  I  was  accompanied 
by  Fathers  Ganuza^  and  Lopez,  and  Brothers  Francisco  Sedano 
and  Antonio  Casas.  .  .  .  The  captain  received  us  with  great 
respect  and  ceremony,  welcoming  us  with  a  volley  by  the  company 
and  four  cannon  shots,  .  .  .  serving  us  a  very  free,  rich,  and 
abundant  table,  and  comporting  himself  in  everything  with  the 
magnificence  and  opulence  of  a  prince.     .     . 

"29.  I  said  the  mass  of  the  inspection  (visita)  and  inspected 
the  church,  sacristy,  and  the  entire  mission.     .     .     . 

"[March]  3.  .  .  .  At  night  there  returned  thirty-three  fam- 
ilies of  the  Indians  of  this  mission  who  had  wandered,  fugitives. 
I  received  them  with  suavity  and  affection.     .     .     . 

"4.  .  .  .  The  opinion  which  I  have  formed  of  this  mission 
of  Nuestra  Sehora  del  Eosario  is  as  follows :  As  to  material  wealth 
it  is  in  good  condition.  It  has  two  droves  of  burros,  about  forty 
gentle  horses,  thirty  gentle  mules,  twelve  of  them  with  harness,  five 
thousand  cattle,  two  hundred  milch  cows,  and  seven  hundred  sheep 
and  goats.  The  buildings  and  the  dwellings,  both  for  the  minis- 
ters and  for  the  soldiers  and  the  Indians,  are  good  and  sufficient. 
The  stockade  of  thick  and  strong  stakes  which  protects  the  mission 
from  its  enemies  is  very  well  made.  The  church  is  very  decent. 
It  is  substantially  built  of  wood,  plastered  inside  with  mud,  and 

^In  the  MS.  this  man's  name  is  spelled  Ganuza,  Lamuza  and  Lanuza. 
His  name  is  not  given  in  Schmidt's  Catalogue  of  Franciscan  Missions. 


138  Texas  Historical  Association  Quarterly. 

whitewashed  with  lime;  and  its  roof  of  good  beams  and  shingles 
(taxamanil)  looks  like  a  dome  (parece  arteson).  Its  decoration  is 
very  bright  and  clean.  It  has  sacred  vessels,  a  bench  for  ornaments 
and  utensils,  a  pulpit  with  confessional,  altars,  and  all  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  divine  cult.  Everything  is  properly  arranged  and 
kept  in  its  place.  There  is  a  baptismal  font,  with  a  silver  concha 
and  silver  cruets  for  the  holy  oils.  The  mission  has  fields  of  crops, 
which  depend  upon  the  rainfall,  for  water  can  not  be  got  from  the 
river,  since  it  has  very  high  and  steep  banks,  nor  from  any  where 
else  since  there  is  no  other  place  to  get  it. 

"This  mission  was  founded  in  1754.  Its  minister,  who,  as  I  have 
already  said,  is  Fr.  Joseph  Escovar,  labors  hard  for  its  welfare, 
growth,  and  improvement.  He  treaits  the  Indians  with  much  love, 
charity,  and  gentleness,  employing  methods  soft,  bland,  and 
alluring.  He  makes  them  work,  teaches  them  to  pray,  tries  to 
teach  them  the  catechism  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  rudiments  of 
our  Holy  Faith  and  in  good  manners.  He  aids  and  succors  them 
as  best  he  may  in  all  their  needs,  corporal  and  spiritual,  giving 
them  food  to  eat  and  clothing  to  wear.  In  the  afternoon  before 
evening  prayers,  with  a  stroke  of  the  bell,  he  assembles  them,  big 
and  little,  in  the  cemetery,  has  them  say  the  prayers  and  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  explains  and  tries  to  teach  them  the  mysteries  of 
our  Holy  Faith,  exhorting  them  to  keep  the  commandments  of  God 
and  of  Our  Holy  Mother  Church,  and  setting  forth  what  is  neces- 
sary for  salvation.  On  Saturdays  he  collects  them  and  has  them 
repeat  the  rosary  with  its  mysteries,  and  the  alavado  cantado.  On 
Sundays  and  holidays  before  mass,  he  has  them  repeat  the  prayers 
and  the  doctrine  and  afterward  preaches  to  them,  explaining  the 
doctrine  and  whatever  else  they  ought  to  understand.  If  he  orders 
punishment  given  to  those  who  neerl  it,  it  is  with  due  moderation, 
and  not  exceeding  the  limits  of  charity  and  paternal  correction; 
looking  only  to  the  punishment  of  wrong  and  excess,  it  does  not 
lean  toward  cruelty  or  tyranny.^ 

"The  Indians  with  which  this  mission  was  founded  are  the  Co- 
xanes,  Guapites,  Carancaguases,  and  Coopanes,  but  of  this  last  na- 
tion there  are  at  present  only  a  few,  for  most  of  them  are  in  the 
woods  or  on  the  banks  of  some  of  the  many  rivers  in  these  parts; 

^See  note  ante,  p.  136. 


The  Founding  of  Mission  Rosario.  139 

or  with  another  (otra)  nation,  their  friends  and  confederates,  on 
the  shore  of  the  sea,  which  is  some  thirteen  or  fourteen  leagues  dis- 
tant to  the  east  of  the  mission.  They  are  all  barbarous,  idle,  and 
lazy;  and  although  they  were  so  greedy  and  gluttonous  that  they 
eat  meat  almost  raw,  parboiled,  or  half  roasted  and  dripping  with 
blood,  yet,  rather  than  stay  in  the  mission  where  the  padre  pro- 
vides them  everything  needed  to  eat  and  wear,  they  prefer  to  suffer 
hunger,  nakedness,  and  other  necessities,  in  order  to  be  at  liberty 
and  idle  in  the  woods  or  on  the  beach,  giving  themselves  up  to  all 
kinds  of  vice,  especially  lust,  theft,  and  dancing."^ 

Such  were  the  difficulties  usually  attending  the  labors  of  the  fron- 
tier missionaries,  exaggerated  somewhat  in  this  instance,  no  doubt, 
by  the  exceptional  crudeness  of  the  tribes  they  were  trying  to 
subdue.  And  such  were  the  meager  first  fruits  of  Escandon's  well 
considered  plan  to  occupy  the  coast  country  this  side  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  In  after  years  the  wooden  church  of  the  mission  was  re- 
placed by  one  of  stone,  and  the  mission  experienced  varying  de- 
grees of  prosperity.  Escandon^s  project  of  establishing  a  Spanish 
pueblo  near  by  was  also  realized,  and  other  weak  settlements  were 
founded  toward  the  Rio  Grande.  But  these  are  matters  outside 
the  scope  of  this  paper. 

^Solfs,  Diario,  in  Memorias  de  Nueva  Espana,  XXVII,  256-259. 


